Outline

Classification of biochemical operation

Fundamentals of biochemical operation

Classification of
biochemical
operation
The purpose of waste water treatment is to remove pollutants

that can harm the aquatic environment if they are discharged

into it.
 Pollutants in wastewaters classified by their

 Physical characteristics (e.g. soluble or insoluble),

Chemical characteristics (e.g. Organic or inorganic),
Susceptibility to alteration by microorganisms
(e.g. Biodegradable or non- Biodegradable)
Origin (e.g. biogenic or anthropogenic),
Effects (e.g. toxic or nontoxic).
Bio chemical operations may be carried out in
aerobic, anoxic, or anaerobic environments, and the
choice of environment has a profound effect on both
the ecology of the microbial community and the
outcome of its activity.
Biochemical operations, on the other hand, are those
that use living microorganisms to destroy or transform
pollutants through enzymatically catalyzed chemical
reactions.
THE ROLE OF BIOCHEMICAL OPERATIONS
Four categories of pollutants are traced through the
process, with the arrows indicating their mass flowrates.

Soluble organic matter (SOM)

Insoluble organic matter (IOM)
Soluble inorganic matter (SIM)
Insoluble inorganic matter (IIM)
Primary sludges are those resulting from sedimentation of the
wastewater prior to application of any biochemical operation.
Secondary sludges are produced by biomass growth in the biochemical
operation and by entrapment of insoluble organic matter by that
biomass.
The nature of the materials in primary sludges tend to be very diverse
because of the multitude of sources from which they arise.
Secondary sludges are more uniform, being mainly microbial biomass.
Sometimes the two sludges are blended and treated together but, at
other times they are treated separately. Because the efficacy of a
biochemical operation in treating a sludge depends strongly on the
nature of the materials in it.
  CRITERIA FOR CLASSIFICATION
The biochemical transformation
Removal of soluble organic matter
Stabilization of insoluble organic matter
Conversion of soluble inorganic matter
The biochemical environment

The biochemical configuration

Suspended growth bioreactors
Attached growth bioreactors.
Biochemical transformation
Removal of soluble organic matter
This occurs as the microorganism use it as a food source, converting a

portion of the carbon in it into new biomass and the reminder into carbon
dioxide. carbon dioxide evolved as a gas and biomass is removed by
sedimentation, leaving the wastewater free of the original organic matter.

Stabilization of insoluble organic matter

When they are treated in a biochemical operation for removal of the SOM,

much of the colloidal organic matter is entrapped with the biomass and
ultimately converted to stable end products that are resistant to further
biological activity. The formation of such stable end products is referred to
as stabilization.
Conversion of soluble organic matter

Two of the prime causes of eutrophication are nitrogen

and phosphorus.
Phosphorus is present in domestic waste water inorganic form as

orthophosphate, condensed phosphate and organic phosphate.

orthophosphate is removed through its uptake by specialized bacteria
that allow them to store large quantities of it in granules with in the cell.
Nitrogen is present in domestic wastewater as ammonia and organic

nitrogen. Two groups of bacteria (nitrifying , denitrifying bacteria) are

required to convert the ammonia in to an innocuous form.
Biochemical Environment
Important characteristic of the environment in which microorganisms

grow is the terminal accepter of electrons they remove as they oxidize

chemicals to obtain energy.

Three types of election accepters:

Oxygen, inorganic compounds and organic compounds.

If dissolved oxygen is present or supplied in sufficient quantity the

environment is considered to be aerobic.

When nitrite and nitrate are present and serve as the primary electron

accepter in the absence of oxygen, the environment is called anoxic.

Bioreactor configuration
Waste water treatment bioreactors fall in to two major
categories,
Depending on the way in which Microorganisms grow
in them.
 Suspended Growth Bioreactors
 Attached Growth Bioreactors
Bio reactor configuration
Suspended growth bioreactors
When suspended growth cultures are used, mixing is required

to keep the biomass in suspension, and physical unit operation

such as sedimentation is used to remove the biomass from the
treated efficient prior to discharge.

Attached growth bioreactors

Attached growth cultures grow as a biofilm on a solid support

and the liquid being treated flows past them. Because

organisms can slough from the support, physical unit operation
is usually required before the treated efficient may be
discharged
COMMON NAMES OF BIOCHEMICAL
OPERATIONS

It defines each name in terms of the bioreactor

configuration, the treatment objective, and the
reaction environment .
CONTINU……
Suspended growth reactors
Activated sludge
Biological nutrient removal
Aerobic digestion
Anaerobic contact
Upflow anaerobic slugde blanket
Anaerobic digestion
Lagoon
Attached growth reactor
• Fludized bed
• Rotating biological contactor
• Trickling filter
• Packed bed
• Anaerobic filter.
Suspended growth bioreactors

Activated sludge
Types of activated sludge systems:
Completely mixed AS
Contact stabilization AS
Conventional AS
Extended aeration AS
High purity oxygen AS
Selector AS
Sequencing batch reactors AS
Step feed AS
 CONTINU….
• They use a flocculent suspended growth culture of
microorganisms in an aerobic bioreactor and employ
some means of biomass recycle.
• Primary treatment objective is the removal of soluble
organic matter and oxidation of the carbon
contained in it.
• Extended aeration activated sludge(EAAS) systems
are often used on wastewaters that have not been
treated in a physical operation to remove suspended
organic matter.
The insoluble organic matter becomes trapped in the
biofloc and undergoes some oxidation and stabilization.
In the use of batch reactors because of the flexibility
offered small installations.
Sequencing batch reactor activated sludge(SBRAS),
many are in use treating both municipal and industrial
wastewaters.
As the need to treat largest flows increased, the early
batch operations was converted to continuous flow
through the use of long aeration chambers similar to
plug-flow reactors, followed by sedimentation and
biomass recycle. Such systems are called conventional
activated sludge(CAS).
Various modifications of the plug-flow reactor were tried,
among them introduction of the wastewater at various points
along the tank, in what has been called step feed activated
sludge(SFAS).
Completely mixed activated sludge (CMAS) process,
particularly for the treatment of industrial wastewaters.
The process tended to produce sludge which did not settle as
well as sludge from systems containing concentration
gradients. So that today many bioreactor systems in use
employ several small CSTRs in series before a large one,
thereby achieving desired environmental conditions. Such
systems are referred to as selector activated sludge(SAS)
systems.
Other innovations that require CSTRs in series, such as the
use of high purity oxygen (HPOAS), have also been adopted.
ii. Biological Nutrient Removal:
 A biological phosphorus removal system is essentially an
activated sludge system employing CSTRs in series, in
which the first bioreactor is anaerobic to encourage the
growth of specialized phosphorus-storing bacteria.
Separate stage nitrification and denitrification systems
usually employ single CSTRs with cell recycle for the
purpose of converting ammonia to nitrate, and nitrate to
nitrogen gas, respectively.
 The most complex BNR systems are the single-sludge
systems which accomplish carbon oxidation, nitrification,
denitrification, and phosphorus removal with a single
biomass by recycling it through CSTRs in series in which
some are acrobic, some anoxic, and some anaerobic.
iii. Aerobic Digestion:
 Aerobic digestion is the name given to the acrobic
destruction of insoluble organic matter in a suspended
growth bioreactor.
 It is often used to destroy part of the excess biomass formed
during treatment of soluble industrial wastewater and at
small “package plant” installations treating domestic
wastewater.
 Conventional aerobic digestion(CAD) maintains the biomass
in an aerobic state at all times. Anoxic/aerobic digestion
(A/AD) cycles the biomass between anoxic and aerobic
conditions to use the nitrate formed during nitrification as
an electron acceptor in place of oxygen, thereby reducing
costs of aeration as an electron acceptor in place of oxygen,
thereby reducing costs of aeration and pH control.
iv. Anaerobic Contact:
The operation used to remove soluble organic matter
under anaerobic conditions in a CSTR with cell recycle
is called anaerobic contact(AC).
It is also used to treat wastes containing a mixture of
soluble and insoluble organic matter, as is the
activated sludge process.
v. Upflow Anaerobic Sludge blanket Reactor:
• Like the anaerobic contact system, primary purpose of
the upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor is
the removal of soluble organic matter under anaerobic
sludge conditions with the production of methane gas.
vi. Anaerobic Digestion:
 The largest of anaerobic cultures is in the
stabilization of insoluble organic matter by
anaerobic digestion (AD), which involves microbial
communities similar to those found in anaerobic
contact.
vii. Lagoons:
 The term lagoon refers to suspended growth
bioreactors that do not include biomass recycle from
a downstream sedimentation tank. Their name
comes from their construction and appearence.
 Three types of lagoons.
Completely mixed aerated lagoons(CMALs) can
generally be classified as completely mixed reactors
that are used for the removal of soluble organic matter,
although stabilization of insoluble organic matter and
nitrification can also occur.
Facultative aerated lagoons are mixed, but not
sufficiently to keep all solids in suspension.
Anaerobic lagoons are not purposefully mixed. Rather,
any mixing that occurs is the result of gas evolution
within them.
2. Attached Growth Bioreactors:
i. Fluidized Bed bioreactors:
• Use of pure oxygen as a means of providing dissolved
oxygen at high concentration, aerobic fluidized beds
soon followed. Their chief purpose is removal of soluble
organic matter, but they are also used for nitrification.
Finally, anaerobic fluidized bed systems were developed
for the treatment of soluble wastewaters.
• The key characteristic of fluidized bed systems is their
ability to retain very high biomass concentrations,
thereby allowing small bioreactor volumes to be used.
This is accomplished by using very small particles,
which provide a large surface area per unit volume, as
the attachment media for biofilm growth.
The major use of FBBRs has been for industrial
wastewater treatment.
ii. Rotating Biological Contactor:
• The rotating biological contactor(RBC) is a modern
application of an old idea for the removal of soluble
organic matter and the conversion of ammonia to
nitrate.
• Microorganisms growing attached to rotating discs
accomplish the desired objectives by the same
mechanisms used in suspended growth systems.
These bioreactors have been popular for the treatment
of both domestic and industrial wastewaters, typically at
smaller installations.
iii. Trickling Filter:
• Trickling filter(TF) is the name given to an aerobic
attached growth bioreactor in the shape of a packed
tower.
• TFs are made of plastic media much like that used
packing in absorption and cooling towers and are self-
supporting to heights of around seven meters because
of the greater void space and lighter weight of media.
• The primary use of TFs is for removal of soluble
organic matter and oxidation of ammonia to nitrate.
TFs have been used for municipal wastewater
treatment in small to medium size installations
desiring minimal operating expense.
iv. Packed Bed:
 Packed bed bioreactors utilize submerged media
with a particle size on the order of a few millimeters.
 Their primary use is for conversion of soluble
inorganic matter ,particularly nitrification and
denitrification, depending on the biochemical
environment provided.
 There are also used to remove soluble organic
matter, especially at low concentrations.
v. Anaerobic Filter:
• An AF is a packed tower containing plastic media
like that in a TF.
• Its primary use is to treat high strength soluble
wastewaters by converting the bulk of the organic
matter to methane.
• Biomass grows attached to the solid media in the
tower, and flow may be from either direction. If flow
is upward, suspended biomass may accumulate and
have to be removed periodically.
OVERVIEW OF BIOCHEMICAL OPERATIONS
• Biochemical operations only alter and destroy materials that
microorganisms act upon, i.e., those that are subject to bio
degradation or biotransformation
• For example, if biodegradable organic matter were discharged to a
stream, the bacteria in that stream would use it as a source of
carbon and energy.
• In the process they would incorporate part of the carbon into new
cell material and the rest would be oxidized to carbon dioxide to
provide the energy for that synthesis. The electrons removed during
the oxidation would be transferred to oxygen in the stream, but if
the supply of oxygen were insufficient, the dissolved oxygen (DO)
concentration would be adopted, killing fish and causing other
adverse effects.
NITROGEN CYCLE
• On the other hand, in a well designed biochemical
operation, microbial growth is allowed to occur in an
environment where the appropriate amount of oxygen can
be supplied, thereby destroying the organic matter and
allowing the treated wastewater to be discharged without
environmental harm.
• The two major cycles employed in biochemical operations
are the carbon cycle and nitrogen cycles. most biochemical
operations only use half of the carbon cycle. i.e., the
oxidation of organic carbon ,releasing carbon dioxide.
• Some biochemical operations use algae and plants to fix
carbon dioxide and release oxygen, thereby using the other
half of the carbon cycle.
• In domestic wastewaters, most nitrogen is in the form of
ammonia and organic nitrogen, where as industrial
wastewaters sometimes contain nitrate, nitrogen as well.
• Organic nitrogen is in the form of amino groups, which was released as
ammonia- in the process called ammonification- as the organic matter
containing them undergoes biodegradation.
• The form in which bacteria incorporate nitrogen during growth is as
ammonia.
• It an industrial wastewater has insufficient ammonia or organic
nitrogen to meet the growth needs of the bacteria, but contains nitrate
or nitrite nitrogen, they will be converted to ammonia through
assimilative reduction for use in cell synthesis.
• In that case, biochemical operations that use denitrification to convert
nitrate and nitrite to nitrogen gas must be used to reduce the amount
of nitrogen in the effluent. The only step in the nitrogen cycle not
normally found in biochemical operations is nitrogen fixation, in
which nitrogen gas is converted to a form that can be used by plants,
animals, and microorganisams.
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